Cant
A cant is a log that has been squared on two or more sides at the sawmill. In the hardwood industry the cant is often the lower-grade center of the log left after the higher-grade boards are taken, and it is a main raw material for pallet parts.
Also called pallet cant, hardwood cant
Reviewed
From cant to pallet parts
A pallet mill resaws cants into shook: stringers, deckboards and blocks at the sizes a design calls for. Because cants come straight from the sawmill, they are usually green (not dried), and pallets built from them start out heavy and wet.
Why cants matter for pallets
- Species mix: cants from eastern mills give the mixed hardwood typical of US pallets, which PDS describes as a blend of high, medium and low density hardwood classes
- Moisture: green cant stock is much wetter than kiln-dried lumber, so weight and shrinkage estimates depend on it
- Grade: the Uniform Standard lumber quality rules (knots, wane, splits, slope of grain) apply to the parts cut from the cant
What to specify
When a buyer asks for hardwood pallets, the spec should state the species mix, grade and moisture content, not just "hardwood". See mixed hardwood and moisture content.
Questions
- Why are pallets made from cants?
- Cants are the lower-grade center of hardwood logs, which suits pallet parts and uses wood that is less valuable for furniture or flooring.
Related
- ShookShook is lumber cut to finished size for pallet parts: deckboards, stringers and blocks ready to assemble. Pallet mills cut shook from cants or rough lumber.
- Green lumberGreen lumber is wood that has not been dried, with moisture content above about 28%. Green mixed hardwood pallets weigh about 4.37 lb per board foot.
- Mixed hardwood pallet lumberMixed hardwood pallet lumber blends high, medium and low-density Eastern hardwoods. It weighs about 4.37 lb per board foot green, 2.91 kiln dried.
- Pallet lumber: species, grades and moisturePallet lumber is cut-to-size hardwood or softwood stock specified by species class, grade and moisture. Mixed hardwood, oak, SYP, SPF and Douglas fir lead.
- ChamferA chamfer is a bevel on a bottom deckboard edge that lets pallet-jack wheels roll over it. The Uniform Standard calls for 35-45 degrees and at least 12 in long.
- Clinched nailA clinched nail is driven through the boards and bent over on the far side. Uniform Standard: it must be at least 1/4 in longer than the stack it joins.
Sources
- Uniform Standard for Wood Pallets (NWPCA, now Woodpack Global), 2012 edition
- Guide to Understanding the PDS Specification and Analysis (stringer, inches)